Taxation is not the bad guy

Thursday

Feb 7, 2013 at 3:15 AM

How did taxes get such a bad name?

Indeed, to quote French minister Anne-Robert Jacques Turgot from more than two centuries ago, “The expenses of government, having for their object the interest of all, should be borne by everyone, and the more a man enjoys the advantages of society, the more he ought to hold himself honored in contributing to these expenses.”

In reality, taxes are not intrinsically bad. We agree there is a shared responsibility to pay for government and its benefits.

But what gives taxes a bad name is how government wastes our tax dollars. Another reason taxes are so despised is the prevailing mindset that what you want to spend tax dollars on is a waste of money, but what I want to spend money on is deserving.

But perhaps the best singular reason for opposing taxes is that by the time you add all of them up, they claim too much of what should otherwise be in your wallet.

As a result, we are of the opinion that taxes would get a much less bad rap if they were spent as intended and in amounts responsibly determined.

The infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” may be a limited example, but it leaves a bad taste in our mouth and makes us that much more unwilling to dig deeper when Uncle Sam comes calling.

But this doesn’t mean we are unwilling to pony up for Uncle Sam — under the right circumstances.

We often criticize Congress for giving taxpayers a free ride while the nation went deeper in debt to fight multiple wars. Where was the War Bond drive or a discussion of tax levies that would sunset once the bills incurred by our multiple wars were paid?

Even today, as the nation stares at a massive national debt and deficit, we can imagine supporting some increase in taxes as suggested by the Simpson-Bowles Commission.

But we, like many taxpayers, need assurances that the money will be used as intended, not skimmed for some pet project tucked into a bill at the last minute or wasted on overpriced products and services.

As we see it, ridding the nation and our state of the ongoing economic malaise has more to do with the credibility of many of our leaders across the spectrum than it does with loving or hating taxes.